The Swarm
by Upgraded Arwing
Summary: The Star Fox team is deployed to planet Destonia. Little do they know that a swarm of evil lies in wait.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Fox looked outside the window of the skyscraper. It was raining heavily yet the drops against the window calmed him. Something about rain made him feel happy. He needed something to cheer him up right now. He was still haunted by the imitation of his father by the Aparoid queen. Perhaps his father really was dead this time. He tried to make himself believe that the queen had obtained information about his father from the various beings it had assimilated but that didn't quite comfort him either.

Behind fox a door suddenly slid open. Krystal stood in the doorway looking down at the floor. She could feel his sadness in her head and rested her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. It seemed to help as he looked over at her.

"Are you ok fox?" she asked with care in her eyes.

"Its nothing. don't worry about it." Fox sighed.

"now Fox. You know I'm a telepath. I know when something is troubling you." she said in a more serious tone.

"Its just that I want to know what happened to my father. that's all." fox said sighing again.

"wasn't he executed on venom during the Lylat wars? Fox you can't allow this to trouble you anymore. I hate to put it like this but James is dead." she said with care. She didn't want to hurt him more than he already had been.

"thanks Krystal. You always put things in perspective." Fox said. He actually smiled a bit.

"glad to be of help" she said happily.

Fox waited until she had left before he thought of the truth. His father wasn't dead. At least he wasn't after the Lylat wars. Fox was saved by him after all. He knew better then anyone but why would his dad leave him? It didn't make sense.

Downstairs Falco sat on the couch watching TV. Slippy was busy fixing rob…again. The robot needed oil changes all the time. Slippy enjoyed it though and he hummed happily while using his greasy hands to fix the robot.

"there you are rob. All fixed up and ready for action." Slippy said with a smile.

"affirmative" rob answered in his robotic voice.

Slippy was basking in his own glory when pepper's image suddenly appeared in front of him. The toad was so surprised he fell from his chair. Falco could do nothing but laugh.

"I'll go get Fox." the bird said as he laughed up Slippy's response.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

"Tell me again General. I don't quite follow." Fox said with a confused look on his face.

"you are going to planet Destonia. Its on the outer fringe of the Lylat system. Apparently the planet was only formed a few hundred thousand years ago which makes it relatively new. A science team was dispatched to study the rock to better understand how planets are formed but….sadly they never returned." general pepper said with a sigh.

"any idea what happened?" Krystal asked in her caring tone.

"none whatsoever. that's why we decided to dispatch you." the dog general replied.

"ok get to the point. What are we getting in return?" Falco asked as he combed back the feathers on his head with his hands. The bird was always about personal gain and that sometimes got him into trouble.

"we have obtained blue prints from the team that constructed the great fox. If you agree to this mission a new one will be built right away for no cost." pepper said with a smile.

He understood that what team star fox needed was a ship rather then a room in a building.

"we'll get started right away. Star fox out" fox said smiling. This was the break he needed.

Soon after his reply the transmission was cut.

Due to the nature of the planet Corneria technology was always in full swing and many people preferred to fly rather then drive or walk. That is why many buildings hand hangers on top of them for just these types of people. Fox and his team were lucky enough to be in one of these buildings. The team made there way to the elevator , rode it to the top floor and made their way into the hanger area. There were many ships. Some were small craft that looked paper thin. Others looked like tankers. Luckily the design of the Arwings with their blue air brakes coming off the sides was easily recognized and the team soon found their craft. Fox was prepping up his Arwing when he remembered something. He looked over to see krystal hopping in her Arwing. Normally he would look at her and smile but this time he was looking at the arwing itself. It was originally Peppy's. The hare had finally retired from his job and was staying back home on the other side of the planet. Sometimes fox envied the hare but he also liked the life he lived.

"Communications line is green." Fox said as he pushed buttons on his holo-panel. "5 seconds to lift off."

The Arwings floated freely up above the ground thanks to their g-diffusers and began to power up their engines. They glowed brightly with intense heat and light. Earlier prototypes had two separate drives that powered them in between space and the atmosphere of a planet. This caused them to shift colors from pink to blue. The new Arwings did not need to do this however and soon launched off into the distance. Fox looked back at the planet as he was soaring through the atmosphere. The planet had needed their help so many times that it may not even exist anymore had they not been around. The planet brought back memories for fox and he let a little tear slide down his face as he thought of his childhood that he had with his father. Why had he abandoned him?

"homesick already?" Falco said with a laugh over the communicator.

Fox jumped. "Nah. I've been gone lots of times before."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: chapter 3 time! I wanted to thank Meneil for giving me the ONLY review I've gotten. Maybe this chapter will give me some more reviews. Thanks for reading!

The team dropped out of warp quickly which caused fox to get a sickness in his stomach. He'd entered warp many times before but he couldn't never shake the sickness he got afterwards. In front of him Destonia glowed like a big red ruby.

"its beautiful!" Krystal said over the communication frequency.

"that's what you said about the Aparoid Homeworld. Remember?" Falco said with a laugh. "don't tell me there are going to be bugs here too!"

Fox was getting annoyed. "Cut the chatter. This is an important mission. A whole research team disappeared here without a trace. This could be an extremely hostile situation." fox said in a serious tone. "your full attention is needed."

A red orange bubble surrounded the arwings as they entered the atmosphere.the spacecraft rocked and rattled as the friction heated up it's hull.

"Lets land over by that outcropping of rock." fox said.

The rest of the team followed. The craft touched down and fox stepped out. Destonia was like a desert of red sand. No water could be seen for miles. Fox readied his scanning goggles.

"I've got nothing. This place is just a dull rock." Falco said in his normally negative tone.

For once Fox agreed with him.

"Theres not much to look at is there? Still we have to find that team. Split up. Falco and Slippy take the northern direction. Me and Krystal will move south." the team split apart into two and moved on.

"Fox can we take a break? We've been walking for hours." Krystal said panting.

Dark colored fur heated up quickly which meant that she was at a disadvantage. Fox couldn't help but give her the answer she wanted.

"Sure. If you need it. There is a rock pillar up ahead. We can sit in the shade behind it." He said smiling.

Krystal ran as fast as she could. She collapsed in the cool sand while fox leaned against the rock.

"It's a lot nicer right here!" Krystal said as she stretched out her arms in the air. "what do you think fox?"

Fox turned to face her. "its ok but look at this." Fox pointed to the ground.

The sand was marked by circle shaped holes. Footprints to be precise. They all lead in one direction.

"Kind of strange don't you think?" Fox said in wonder.

He looked out into the distance where the tracks were heading when he saw an object in the distance.

"I think I've found the research team. Lets go!" Fox said.

Krystal was lying on the ground. "But it feels so nice here!" she said with a laugh.

She quickly got up and followed the trail with Fox.

When they got to the object it turned out it was the research vessel. It was rounded with no special fins or anything. It looked like a big cylinder. What was inside was the creepier part. Krystal gasped as she entered it behind Fox. The inside was ripped to pieces with wires hanging out of the walls that once contained them. They let out sparks that covered the floor in flashing yellow lights. There was blood scattered on one wall in a splash pattern that covered it in tiny droplets. No people living or dead were on board.

"What happened to them?" Krystal asked with sadness in her voice.

"I'm not sure…" Fox replied.

Chapter 4 will shed light on what actually happened. Please R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

A/n: hello again. this will probably be my last chapter until sunday or monday because i am going on a trip on friday. i will update though so just hang out for a while -

Fox tried everything he could to figure out what had happened.it seemed like whatever attacked the research vessel was linked to the tracks outside the craft. fox had been searching for the black box on the space craft to no avail. after an hour he finally found it underneath a removable panel on the floor.

"ive found it krystal!" he said happily.

the blue vixen rushed over to him, helped him pick it up, and quickly dropped it to the floor again.the thing weighed a ton. there was no way he'd make it back to the arwings with it.

"here gos nothing.fox said as he pushed the play button located on the top.

the box was audio only but played like you we're actually there. all seemed to go normally. the team landed on the surface,catalogued the mineral deposits of the sands, searched for water, and deemed the planet lifeless. the box continued to play until something strange occured. the research team was getting ready to leave.

"did you guys save everything onto the back up discs?" said a crew member.

"yes sir." said another.

"good i dont want to come back." the first responded.

"captain!" shouted one of the other crew members." we've got a large amount of objects moving toward us at high speed!"

"what are they?" asked the captain with urgency. "i thought you classified this planet as unfit to support life."

"we did." said the other.

a screeching noise now pierced the air. it sounded like a knife grinding on a chalk board. soon feet could be heard moving around the hull of the ship. not biped deet though. these sounded more insect-like. something heavy hit the deck and thats when they screams came on. suddenly it all stopped.

"i've got a bad feeling about this krystal." fox said in fear.

he looked to his right to find that krystal had scooted close to him and was holding his arm. she quickly jumped back as her face turned red.

"yeah. that was weird. what if those things attack us?" she said in a worried tone.

"you know why they got rid of us don't you?" falco asked his toad counterpart.

"no. what do you mean?" slippy asked.

"oh come on. those two obviously have a thing for each other. i wouldnt doubt that they're having fun with it while we are doing the hard work" falco said with a laugh. "havn't you noticed?"

"no way falco. fox would never let a woman get in the way of getting the job done." slippy said confidently. "i bet they've already found the research vessel. its weird though. ive been trying to communicate with them on the radio but there is some interference out here."

"i'm telling you they turned the radio off." falco said with a chuckle.

"im telling you fox is a respons- ahhh!"

slippy's words were cut off as a hole in the ground opened up beneath the two. they both fell into the depths below.

"this couldnt have been natural.." slippy thought to himself. "this was a trap"

well thats chapter 4. in chapter 5 i will show off the menace of this story. stay tuned and please R&R.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: hello again. I really enjoy the constructive criticism you guys give. This is my first story so I am going to need a lot of it. I switched out the first two chapters and gave them there own areas. I hope this helps for reading due to the format change as well. I look forward to your reviews.

CHAPTER 5

Slippy and Falco's POV:

Slippy was panicking. Falco and him had fallen into a hole and the outcome of the fall frightened him. Falco was his usual self. As a former gang member who found flying through Meteos to be fun this was nothing to him. Suddenly they hit something. They bounced back in the air and flew back down again as if they were on a bunge cord. Soon the movement stopped. Slippy opened his eyes. He was facing up towards the top of the hole. A small beam of light came down from it but it was mostly pitch black darkness. He attempted to move but found he couldn't. he was stuck on something

"Falco can you help me out?" he asked nervously.

The birds voice came from his left but this was different. Falco expressed something he had never done before. It was worry.

"I don't know. I cant move either." he said with a struggle.

Slippy looked to his left when he saw it. Where he really was. He was in what looked to be a large spider web. (yes there are spiders on Corneria :P) that was when he could hear the skitter of insect-like feet. He looked in all directions but couldn't find the things causing the noise. Suddenly the whole wall seemed to move. Something was alive in this tunnel…. And there were millions of them.

Fox and Krystal's POV:

Fox walked out of the ship and soon helped his Cerenian counterpart out of it.

"Fox I'm afraid. What if we end up like they did? We don't even know what happened." Krystal said as she moved closer to him. He made her feel safe and secure and she enjoyed that part of him.

"Exactly. We don't know what happened. It could have been anything. There is no reason to worry." Fox said in an attempt to calm Krystal. It didn't work.

"But you heard what happened! Besides this planet is full of sand. Who knows what could be hiding in it!" she said in fear. Krystal had seen some pretty bad things in her life and Fox felt guilty about making her worry.

"look if you want me to ill page Slippy and Falco so that I can prove to you that there is nothing to worry about." Fox proceeded to push a button on his helmet com. "Fox to Falco. how are things on your end?" he said into the mike. All he got back was static. "falco! respond!" he said louder. Still nothing.

"Fox look at that!" Krystal said pointing underneath the research vessel. It was a body. The two quickly ran towards it.

It turned out to be a creature unlike anything fox had seen before. The creature had damage to its side from blaster fire. It looked reptilian but had six legs like that of an insect. It had no tail but instead had its body end with what looked like the abdomen of a grasshopper. Its head was that of a large reptile's but it had something strange and different. 4 claws surrounded the head that were connected by a membrane of skin. It's mouth was decorated with rows of razor sharp fangs.

"what in the name of the goddess is that?" Fox asked Krystal.

"I don't know but I am officially freaked out now." she replied.

And that's chapter 5. Turns out that there is life on Destonia. Please R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hello again! sorry for my lack of updates. I have cat testing and finals this week in high school so im swamped with studying. My next update may also be delayed due to this. Please R&R as i really appreciate it even if it's negative feedback.

The monster in front of the two looked like something from a fairy tale and yet it was there. Right in front of them.

"We have to get back to the arwings. This is serious. If these things killed the research team then it is likely they pose a threat to us as well." Fox said in a serious tone.

"Fox. I can sense something. Thousands of voices. I never noticed them all before. They're coming from all directions." Krystal said in worry. "What if they're those things?"

That was when the ground underneath them disappeared...

The two found themselves falling. Fox was quick to act and pulled out his blaster. It did little good though as they both hit the ground with heavy force that knocked the wind out of both of them. They coughed and got back on their feet. This area was like an underground cave but it was dark. really dark. The only light came from the hole the two had fallen from.

"What happened?" Fox asked Krystal with a cough.

"I don't know. The ground suddenly just collapsed." She said in wonder.

Fox grabbed his blaster once again and checked the display on the side. It wasn't damaged from the fall and the battery readings read fully charged. He raised the weapon and fired a shot. It illuminated the room in a crisp blue light if only for a second. Fox now wished he hadn't been so curious. Those creatures lined the walls of the cave. none on the floor. Only clinging to the ceiling like spiders waiting for a meal...and they found one. All at once they moved towards the bottom of the room. Fox readied his blaster to fire but krystal pushed it back down.

"Fox. wait.. I have an idea." she said with confidence.

"Krystal are you crazy! These things will ki-" Fox was cut off by Krystal's hand over his mouth.

"Be absloutely silent." she said. Fox followed her order.

The creatures charged towards them but then stopped. They began to skitter in all directions. It was as if they were confused. They we're feeling. Feeling for their prey. They gave up extremely quickly and moved back to the ceilings and walls.

Krystal spoke into fox's mind. "They can't see anything or smell anything. They work by sound, feeling, and taste."

Fox nodded over this even though it was impossible to see in the dark. He wondered one thing though.

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" He thought so Krystal could hear.

"I have a plan.." She spoke into fox's mind.She quietly took of one of the clasps around her tail and put it around the handle of fox's blaster. She closed the clasp which squeezed the trigger. Shot after shot flew from the weapon. She threw it in the corner and sure enough the beasts were on it right away. Fox and Krystal ran away as fast as they could.

"Whats the plan Fox?" Krystal asked.

"Run Faster!" he replied.

A/N: It's short i know. I'm sorry im in such a hurry. 

Upgraded Arwing


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

A/N: I know I know. It's been a while. I'm back though and if I can get a few more readers I plan to do a lot more upkeep. I just got off for summer though so it should be easy. Please R &R. I need the reviews :P

The two ran down the tunnels as fast as they could. It was moist in the caves. The air was cooler than the surface and the ground was wet. This caused Fox and Krystal to nearly slip a few times but they we're running too fast to care. After about 5 minutes they stopped for air.

"There are so many of them! I've never seen anything like this! Not since the Aparoids anyway." Krystal said in frustration.

"For now all we need to worry about is our way back to the surface. The creatures work together and it seems that they live down here so there must be more." Fox said in fear of the whole thing.

"Well they do dig out trap doors for their prey…. They have to come up somehow to dig. There must be a way." Krystal said with hope.

"But where are we supposed to start? This isn't exactly like using a map. We're lost underground!" I'm not sure what do. We'll just have to keep moving." Fox said with a sigh. "By the way they need a name don't they? What should we call them?"

"I'm going to call them Stalkers. They did follow us along the surface. Otherwise we would have never fallen into that trap." Krystal said.

"Stalkers it is" Fox said with a smile.

The two walked..quietly. There was no reason to run anymore since that would make even more noise. Walking was fine. A few of the "Stalkers" would run past every once in a while but as long as they stayed quiet and moved out of its way it didn't even notice their presence. Then there was light… it was at the end of the tunnel. The two smiled to each other with relief. They began to walk quicker still being quiet enough not to be heard.

When they got where they needed to be they didn't find what they had expected. There was a way out but it was guarded. These stalkers were different. One feature was all that changed. they had eyes…and they had seen the two foxes. They set off some type of battle cry and began to do a dance of sorts. It was as if they were attempting to intimidate Fox and Krystal. All at once they charged.

"Look out!" Fox yelled.

The creatures missed and ended up behind them. They turned around and gave out another battle cry. More of a shriek than the roar of last time. Suddenly echoes. Echoes of claws from the back of the tunnel.

"Lets get out of here!" Krystal said as she grabbed Fox's hand.

The way was clear and the two ran as fast as they could. The stalker guards gave chase and were soon followed by the rest of the colony. It wasn't like them to pass up anything edible and this was no exception.

A/N: and that's chapter 7. Looks like Fox and Krystal are in trouble. I'm going to try to end this story by chapter ten but no guarantees. -

UpgradedArwing


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